Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND QUESTION)

[Guest guest]

Have to disagree.  At Josh's first school in a tiny little town in IL, the

speech therapist was not only trained in treating apraxia, she had done some

time with Kaufmann and was trained in PROMPT (although PROMPT was not

appropriate for Josh).  When we moved, Kaufmann had come to the school

district we were moving to to " train " some of the therapists who were unfamiliar

with her method.  Not that the two therapists he's had in this district are

experts in apraxia, the first one was studying the methods available for Josh

and implementing them to the best of her ability.  The second one,

unfortunately, was standing on her many years of experience in speech therapy

generally instead of looking at Josh as the individual he is - he, in fact,

regressed this past year.

 

In short, your generalization is completely inappropriate.  There are good

speech therapists both in and out of the school systems - good private

therapists (which we have blessed to have also had), and really crummy ones.  It

could be that you simply had a speech therapist that didn't fit with your child,

didn't know apraxia treatment methods, or whatever.  But to generalize like that

is to condemn all those dedicated therapists who have made a conscious choice to

work in the public school system.

 

Sherry and Josh

From: Maureen <mosense@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Date: Friday, July 3, 2009, 5:16 PM

I will repeat my statement that there are not any well-trained apraxia

specialists

in any public school system.

>

> Sandy, I never said there weren't any good SLP's at school, but due to lack of

respnse from Maureen after indicating what my perception of a " well-trained

apraxia SLP " is, then I guess her's does not fit the bill.

[Guest guest]

I just want to clarify what you said; correct me if I misunderstood.

Josh has a wonderful speech therapist, which is " apraxia trained " and knows the

" Kaufman Method " and previously he was getting services from another

" apraxia-trained " , good therapist, trained in " Prompt " and " Kaufman " methods;

yet, this year he has regressed. Is that what you said?

[Guest guest]

If you can provide speech therapy all by yourself---than why, for god sake are

qualifications of any SLP--private or SD so important?????

>

> I have actually been down the road long enough to know " fish oil " is not the

sole answer.

> With that said, I do " have " to do the other five days of my son's speech

therapy and I have had to be the one to get the information and to provide it

most of his life. Given my knowledge base and intelligence, the SLP " taught " me

what I needed to do of which I did not already know (knew of the methods, but

unable toobtain the information without being a SLP). I did not just " watch "

her. ROTFL. I learn something new all the time; smart people learn everyday, and

do not just stagnate. Together, we figure out what works the best and we employ

it. I do not spend too much time on things that do not work. It is called

intelligent decision making.

[Guest guest]

Hi ! I would like to know what all the common denominators are amd would you be

so kind as to share your expertise. Thanks

>

> I have actually been down the road long enough to know " fish oil " is not the

sole answer.

> With that said, I do " have " to do the other five days of my son's speech

therapy and I have had to be the one to get the information and to provide it

most of his life. Given my knowledge base and intelligence, the SLP " taught " me

what I needed to do of which I did not already know (knew of the methods, but

unable toobtain the information without being a SLP). I did not just " watch "

her. ROTFL. I learn something new all the time; smart people learn everyday, and

do not just stagnate. Together, we figure out what works the best and we employ

it. I do not spend too much time on things that do not work. It is called

intelligent decision making.

> I would have to say that I know my stuff, given the dramatic, ongoing

improvements in my son. That is not arrogance, but it is confidence.

> I could sit around and waste precious time by being ignorant, which I am not,

or I could continue to employ the " methods " currently known to successfully

treat apraxia, which I do.

> If you or anyone else here believes that speech therapy is not a 24/7 thing

(with a parent, speech therapist, or both in most cases), then it is you

(collectively) who I feel sorry for. One cannot take a child to speech therapy

1,2, or 3 days a week for 30 minutes a session, do nothing at home on the rest

of the days and times, and expect your child to speak. (Not with true apraxia.)

Speech therapy is about speech. Apraxia is about motor programming for the

speech because the motor program to sequence and execute is damaged. It is a

neurological problem in the brain that fish oil alone will not fix. Unless the

root cause is determined and resolved, like with any neurological impairment,

the child with apraxia will continue to deteriorate (neurologically).

> I have listened on many groups about the different children with apraxia, what

they are deficient in, what tests have been done, what conclusions have been

drawn from those tests, what methods different ones are using to attempt to

correct th apraxia and so forth. I have heard the frustrations and the

successes. I have quickly seen the commonalities and quickly seen the various

differences.

> Nonetheless, all of the children had something (other than apraxia) in

common...only one thing. Once I figured that out, it was quite simple to

determine which direction I needed to go in order to prevent further

neurological damage. I am on that route now. One of my children may have

permanent irreversible damage, but the other has a great fighting chance. I do

know the damage can be halted, but I am not sure about compleely repaired. Don't

get me me wrong, I said " may " , as nothing is ever impossible. The funny thing I

discovered was that all the results,, all the dietary supplements, and all the

symptoms " DO " correlate. The fish oils, the other supplements for nutritional

deficiencies, the MRI results (the ones that did not show anything and the ones

that did), and the laboratory tests all point to one thing. It

> is so sad that perhaps many doctors and others are overlooking something so

simple, but maybe not so simply resolved.

> Considering a select " few " posts, including yours, I gather that you do not

trust the information I provide to you here on this group forum; therefore, I

bid you all luck in finding the common denominator (for your childen's sakes),as

there is a common denominator.

>

>

[Guest guest]

-

Not sure if you're addressing my response but my Josh had a great SLP in a

school in a little town in central IL - she was the one who was well-trained in

apraxia techniques.  For reasons not related to Josh (I got divorced), we moved

into a district that is supposed to be known as one of the best in IL.  The

first year in this new dist., he had a SLT who was working hard at

learning/implementing the Kaufmann method with Josh (Josh had been evaluated by

Kaufmann also) and he did well in speech that first year in the dist. 

However, he was terribly placed in a completely inappropriate classroom.  We got

the dist to change his placement and he started working with a SLP who had years

and years of experience (although I do not know if she actually was trained in

any apraxia methods other than " knowing about them " ) - his first year with her

he did not progress or regress but progressed in other areas.  He had that same

SLP this past year and

regressed in speech along with other areas.  We're moving out of the district

this year - very long story but regression is one of the many reasons for the

move.

 

Sherry

From: <agirlnamedsuess@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009, 10:56 AM

I just want to clarify what you said; correct me if I misunderstood.

Josh has a wonderful speech therapist, which is " apraxia trained " and knows the

" Kaufman Method " and previously he was getting services from another

" apraxia-trained " , good therapist, trained in " Prompt " and " Kaufman " methods;

yet, this year he has regressed. Is that what you said?

[Guest guest]

,

Yes, you did say there weren't any apraxia-trained slps in school (message

#91580) and I do

stand by MY statement that there are.  Were we lucky to have one?, yes we were.

But they

are out there and yes, they are working in the school system because they want

to help kids

as a calling and not as a means to make a wad of money privately. 

I just think a balanced opinion on this issue is due.  I'm sorry you had a bad

experience. But to

call into question our ability to identify a qualified SLP to help our kids was

not necessary and

not in the helping spirit with which this board was created.  We all have had

our experiences, both

good and bad and yes, that does help everyone to know what's out there.  But

your experience was

yours, so to say that the school system does not have well trained slp's is not

necessarily true, you

just have to look harder to find them.

we are here to help each other, not to call into question our ability to help

our kids.  We do not

have blinders on.

You have your opionion and i have mine, lets just leave it at that now.

sandy

________________________________

From: <agirlnamedsuess@...>

Sent: Friday, July 3, 2009 2:48:30 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Sandy, I never said there weren't any good SLP's at school, but due to lack of

respnse from Maureen after indicating what my perception of a " well-trained

apraxia SLP " is, then I guess her's does not fit the bill.

If someone has all the training I mentioned, which would constitute being very

educated and well-versed in apraxia, then why wouldn't they be making 3 times as

much money working on their own?

There is sch a need for SLP, well-trained in apraxia at that, that thy would

have no trouble getting business.

Again, your (and Maureen's) opinion on what an expert in apraxia is may be lower

in expectations than what my opinion of an expert in apraxia is.

I already did my homework on this one. nd although the SLP at your school (or

Maureen's) might be an excellent SLP and work really hard with her students, my

comment stands.

__________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Sherry, My point was this: Why didn't the original SLP, who was so good, also

teach you, the parent what to do in the interim? Maybe he would not have

regressed then? Or are you stating he regressed (possibly) due to stress

(divorce), which is a possibility? My kid talks in times of stress, but I have

heard that others regress in times of stress.

My idea of a great therapist, in whatever field, is one that shows the parent

what to do at home with the child when the child is not at their 30 minute

therapy session.

Some people (not implying you) believe that the therapist is the only one to

treat the child. The therapist should always teach the client/parent what to do

at home, as that is a (one) component of a good therapist.

[Guest guest]

-

 

Therapists should help the parent know what to do to work with the child and

therapists Josh has had all his life have gone over many, many methods to use

with Josh at home to reinforce what is being done in the therapy sessions - I do

all sorts of things from using the Kaufmann cards to working with the Let'sTalk

program to using oral motor toys and so on.  But when a child is stressed, or if

the therapists use methods that are not designed for apraxia (which is what was

happening this past school year - both the stress on the part of the therapist

and Josh, and the incorrect methods) there will be regression or stagnation.

 

The simple fact is, my child has severe what should now really be called verbal

and oral dyspraxia (since he does have speech) and I am not a trained therapist,

and never professed to be.  I do what I can as his mother, reinforce everything

that is being done in therapy sessions, and invent new things to do at home to

increase speech and language.  All that I do, though, is not enough when a

therapist is doing things that are inappropriate and when there are things going

on in the school setting that are causing the child undo stress (my divorce was

4 years ago and, while there probably are carry-over effects, the aide at school

who was horrible was what the real stressor was, I believe).  I don't know when

or if Josh will be able to end therapy sessions but this past school year was

definitely a set-back.

 

Sherry

From: <agirlnamedsuess@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: new here- (PATTY'S ORIGINAL INTRO AND

QUESTION)

Date: Monday, July 6, 2009, 6:41 PM

Sherry, My point was this: Why didn't the original SLP, who was so good, also

teach you, the parent what to do in the interim? Maybe he would not have

regressed then? Or are you stating he regressed (possibly) due to stress

(divorce), which is a possibility? My kid talks in times of stress, but I have

heard that others regress in times of stress.

My idea of a great therapist, in whatever field, is one that shows the parent

what to do at home with the child when the child is not at their 30 minute

therapy session.

Some people (not implying you) believe that the therapist is the only one to

treat the child. The therapist should always teach the client/parent what to do

at home, as that is a (one) component of a good therapist.

[Guest guest]

Oh Sherry---we all get our homework from the SD SLP every night. My 8dd has a

folder full of speech homework every single day! That does not make me a speech

therapist, but supporting what the qualified therapists are doing. Her evening

also includes her math homework, her sight words and her other subjects. I dont

think any of us actually believe that what is done in school is all that has to

be done.

I know some local parents who are just transitioning from EI to CPSE

(preschool). They were told their kids didnt qualify. So they have to wait until

their kids fail in school before they see that services are needed. I hope your

transition with your son goes very well. Keep up the good work.